Editorial - 7/08/13

Last week, 19 members of
an elite, Arizona-based firefighting-team, lost their lives battling a
lightning-sparked-wildfire, caught in what's termed, a "burn-over," caused when
the wind, and with it, the flames, abruptly shift, in this case, suddenly engulfing
them, cutting off their escape route. A
stunning tragedy, not only in loss of life for those highly-skilled firefighters,
but because so many left wives and young families behind. Understandably, children have always been fascinated by those
gleaming fire trucks, speeding out of the neighborhood fire-house, sirens
blaring, with the obligatory Dalmatian perched on top. In the
grown-up world, being a firefighter isn't that childhood fantasy, but the stark-reality
of an extremely demanding and dangerous profession. Whether full-time or volunteer, it's the
firefighters who put life and limb on-the-line to save property and people,
whenever called, no matter the weather, time-of-day, or degree-of-risk. They are the ones who race into burning
structures, when those inside are racing to get out! Starkest case-in-point, the over 300
firefighter-fatalities following their heroic World Trade Center efforts, after
the appalling 9/11 Attack-on-America, by despicable, murdering Islamic
radicals.

Closer to home, from
Savannah to Statesboro, Bluffton to Brunswick,
multiple-communities, within and around, we're so blessed to have, ever-at-the-ready,
highly-trained firefighters, brave men and women who, like their
law-enforcement and military brethren, devote their skills, and their lives, to
our protection. America's National
Firefighter Appreciation Day occurs in October during Fire Prevention
Week. No need to hold your appreciation
until then. Anytime is the right time
to say thanks to the men and women of our Georgia/South Carolina firefighting teams,
who make, and live, that profound calling and commitment to preserve our
property, and, no matter the danger, brave death-dealing flames to rescue us.